Remembering My Father, Mato Gi, Who Foretold His Spring Passing

· Photograph

Today, in 2004, my beloved Father, Mato Gi, passed quietly to the Other Side Camp. In September 2003, he said, " I am going to die in the Spring in March." And he did, March 29, 2004.

Mato Gi in a full feathered headdress and white buckskin regalia, seated on a brown horse beside a spotted horse under trees.

A rider in a white cowboy hat on a chestnut horse cutting a calf away from a herd of cattle in a dirt arena.

Mato Gi as an older man in a white cowboy hat with a beaded hatband and a purple and gold neckerchief.

A black-and-white photo of a young man in jeans and boots holding a western saddle outside a wooden building.

A black-and-white portrait of a smiling woman and a man in a suit gazing at the baby he holds.

Mato Gi in a gray cowboy hat and white shirt, smiling arm in arm with a woman in a yellow sweater, a coiled rope behind them.

An elderly couple with white hair hugging and smiling as they sit together in a booth.

Mato Gi in a teal shirt and jeans raising his white cowboy hat high as he dances in a hall full of people.

A faded black-and-white photo of a man in a white tank top with a smiling young child on his lap.

A black-and-white photo of a young man looking out from the driver's seat of a vintage convertible car.

A black-and-white photo of a shirtless young man pushing a wheelbarrow with a toddler sitting in it outdoors.

Two riders in cowboy hats on horseback chasing a black calf in a rodeo arena, with the number 114 written above.

Mato Gi in a white cowboy hat and patterned shirt, holding a cup and talking with a long-haired man in a red vest.

Mato Gi lifting his white cowboy hat while dancing in a hall, with people and an elder in a wheelchair behind him.

A sepia photo of two young men in white shirts and slacks standing in front of a brick building.

Mato Gi in a ribbon shirt and white hat holding an eagle feather fan, with a man in regalia and three others in formal dress.

Four people standing together indoors: a woman in gray, a man in a black hat, Mato Gi in a white hat and red scarf, and a man in glasses.

A smiling woman in a red top and turquoise jewelry with her arm around Mato Gi, seated in a white shirt in an armchair.